This Friday, September 11, 2009, I'm gonna be part of Mr. Nick's Harmonica showdown that will be held at Johnny D's in Somerville, MA and it will feature myself, Mr. Nick, Racky Thomas, Annie Raines, and Darrell Nulisch. The press release sent to me by Mr. Nick is below,Friday, September 11 - Mr Nick's Northeast Harmonica Showdown - Johnny D's - Sommerville, MA

Following up on the wildly successful Harmonica Showdown in January at Johnny D's, Mr. Nick is at it again with another stellar lineup of New England Blues Harmonica luminaries consisting this time of Darrell Nulisch, Annie Raines, Racky Thomas & proud to announce after a two year hiatus, the triumphant return of Barbeque Bob. As well as having one of the best rhythm sections around in Per Hanson & Mudcat Ward, the band will be rounded out by Blues guitar virtuoso Monster Mike Welch. The show will be Friday September 11 at Johnny D's in Somerville MA.

Darrell Nulish - As one of the founding members of Anson Funderburg and the Rockets and one time front man for Ronnie Earl & the Broadcasters Darrell Nulisch is no stranger to the Blues. He is a supreme soul streaked Blues singer from the word go and a top notch harp player to boot.

Annie Raines -"Dynamite comes in small packages" and the fact that Annie Raines has both Walters and both Sonny Boys in her back pocket is enough to support that characterization. Hailed by many as the greatest female harp player on the planet, let's just say she's one of the greatest period.

Racky Thomas -Making a return appearance on this bill is the well oiled Chicago Blues machine known as Racky Thomas. Besides winning the Boston Blues Challenge with his great band, The Racky Thomas Band, he has produced two critically acclaimed records and has a brand new one as well, "Hard Travelin", that he will have available at the show.

Barbeque Bob - Bob has played and toured with more than a few legends in the world of Blues such as the late great Jimmy Rogers, Sunnyland Slim, Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson and Louisiana Red. His style is infused with the sounds of classic 50's style Chicago Blues, West Coast Jump Blues and Swing and is a force to be reckoned with.

Mr. Nick - Since winning the Boston Blues Challenge in 2005 Nick has been putting a stamp on the New England Blues scene and beyond with his powerhouse vocals and unorthodox harp playing. He can be seen regularly with his band Mr. Nick & the Dirty Tricks.

well bob have a killer night! i got to see darrell back in the day, in dallas, with anson and crew, and i have gotten to chat with annie in an old now-defunct chat room once. that is going to be some killer talent all in one place man. have the best of times.

in north little rock we'll be at a jam hosted by the blues society. saturday night is the blues challenge here, which Jolene and i will kick off at 7:15 sharp. this is a much smaller challenge this year, 7 acts between solo/duo and full bands. last year we saw 13 acts competing. so it's all in one night this year.

I sat next to Mr. Nick on a flight back from Memphis after competing in the IBC. Annie's doing a couple of workshops and she and Paul are playing at the barbershop in a couple of weeks. I'm planning to go to that show.

oh shoot!why such short notice?i would definitely come to boston for something like this,it sounds like a blast!like most philadelphians i have lots of peeps in boston,i have too many shows to get away though.keep us posted with these kind of things.

The details were just finalized this past Thursday and the press release sent to me on Friday night. I was asked to participate on Wednesday, and so everything has been kinda quick. If you run into them, please say hi to some friends of mine from the Philly area, namely Steve Guyger, Randy Lipincott, Richie Yescalis, Dennis Gruenling, and Seth Holzman for me.

I've known the T-Birds since they first came up to Boston in 1975, and Fran Christina was on drums with them on short notice as their regular drummer skipped out and never shown up again. They were one of the first bands I ever saw doing the Excello records stuff at the time and the first thing that Kim opened up with was George Smith's cover of Hawaiian Eye, the theme from an old 50's TV show, wearing a turban, and they were 100% a straight ahead blues band back then. You bring back some old memories menthoning my old buddy Sth Holzman, who's a great player in his own right.